Alleged money launderer caught trying to sell co-worker a Vancouver home subject to civil forfeiture
Credit to Author: Gordon Hoekstra| Date: Wed, 11 Sep 2019 23:34:16 +0000
An accused at the centre of B.C.’s biggest money-laundering case tried to sell a co-worker a $2-million house the province wanted forfeited.
The purchase of the six-bedroom, six-bathroom home by the co-worker involved in the alleged laundering operation was stopped last spring when the B.C. Civil Forfeiture Office became aware of who was at the other end of the proposed sale, according to filings in B.C. Supreme Court.
The details of the prospective sale only become available recently when the civil forfeiture office told the court it had concerns about another pending sale of the southeast Vancouver property. According to court filings, the civil forfeiture office was suspicious this buyer was also not at arm’s length from the accused and the purchase money was “tainted.”
Ultimately, the court approved the most recent sale in a decision on Sept. 6.
The civil forfeiture office had claimed that, like the first proposal, the sale was priced hundreds of thousands of dollars below market value and asked the court not to approve the sale.
Caixuan Qin, whose criminal charges for money laundering were stayed in November 2018 in relation to an alleged underground bank, Silver International, in Richmond.
The 2375 Burquitlam Dr. property, owned by Caixuan Qin, was under an interim freeze order by the court. That meant the home could not be sold without the approval of the court and any net proceeds must be paid into trust until a final court ruling on the case.
The freeze order also stipulated the property could only be sold to a “bona fide” third person for fair market value.
In an Aug. 29 court filing, Andrew Gay, a lawyer with Gudmundseth Mickelson LLP, representing the civil forfeiture office, stated: “Ms. Qin deliberately attempted to evade the terms of the (interim freeze order) by hiding the fact that the purchaser was not at arm’s length.”
Jian Jun Zhu, whose criminal charges for money laundering in relation to alleged underground bank Silver International in Richmond were stayed in November 2018.
Qin and spouse Jian Jun Zhu are named in the civil forfeiture suit that seeks to seize the Vancouver home and another $2 million in cash captured in a 2015 police raid as proceeds of crime. Qin and Zhu are accused of operating an underground bank in Richmond, Silver International, that allegedly laundered as much as $220 million a year, largely in drug trafficking money, according to earlier court filings.
The pair have denied any wrongdoing and said that search and seizures violated their Charter rights.
Documents filed in B.C. Supreme Court, laying out Qin’s alleged “scheme,” show a numbered company was created on March 28, 2019 listing two people as directors. One of those was Qing Xie, whom a police investigation found worked at Silver International, handling money and ledgers. Xie was arrested along with Qin in a police raid in October of 2015 but not charged, according to a police affidavit filed in court. The numbered company, 12012958 B.C. Ltd., was used to try to purchase the Burquitlam property in May of this year.
The price of the proposed sale, at $1.8 million, was well below the original list price of $2.688 million, which had been reduced to $2.48 million, according to court documents.
In documents filed in court, Qin’s lawyer, Jennifer Flood, with Thorsteinssons LLP, noted the house is an older style and many things need replacing, and there is no air conditioning and no authorized rental suite.
Flood did not respond to a request for comment from Postmedia on her client’s conduct. Matthew Nathanson, a criminal defence lawyer who represents Qin on other matters, declined to comment.
B.C. Solicitor General’s office declined to comment on the circumstances of the proposed sales, “as this matter is before the courts.” In a written statement, ministry spokesman Colin Hynes said the civil forfeiture office “cannot” provide comment.
James Cohen, executive director for the Canadian branch of Transparency International, a global anticorruption organization, said if the allegations are true it says the accused has no respect for, or does not feel threatened by, anti-money laundering mechanisms in B.C. “It seems pretty brazen, if it’s true, to conduct money laundering while being scrutinized and it’s known who you are,” said Cohen.
In the second proposed sale, the civil forfeiture office had noted the potential purchaser had sworn in a written statement she had no prior relationship with Qin. However, her statement provided very little information, including why she wanted to buy the large property, how she could afford it and what was her connection to Canada, according to the civil forfeiture office’s filings in court.
Evidence from an appraiser and a realtor hired by the civil forfeiture office, and filed in court, argued the intended purchase price of $1.888 million was below market value by nearly $240,000 and was not marketed adequately.
Qin was supposed to be making mortgage payments on the Burquitlam house, but had not been doing so.
Earlier, the Toronto Dominion bank had filed a court petition to foreclose on the property to collect $1.1 million owed on a mortgage. Two other mortgages are registered on the property totalling $560,000.
Once the sale goes through, the net proceeds will be paid in trust to the court, according to the B.C. Supreme Court order.